Familiar Spaces PV Meenauh closed

As anyone who knew her could have predicted, Dee puffed up a little at Meenauh's compliment. Yes, she would interpret not bad as a compliment if she felt like it, which she did. Sue her. Standing a bit taller, glowing a bit brighter, she snorted at the Gryffindor's demand that the Curse of the Bogies be off-limits. And fine, it was a rather nasty spell. She'd know. "Fine, be like that," she retorted, but she was grinning, her eyes shining.

She paused, anticipating an attack, but when it came, dodging it required really no effort from how far it went past her. "I'm over heeeere," she sing-songed, the smile turning cheeky, then was almost made to regret her words immediately when she just narrowly dodged the crackers that Meenauh flung at her. "Oops. That was close."

Of course, having just avoided a singing jinx meant she almost had to use spells with long, complicated incantations. "Does that mean that slug-vomiting is out, too?" A joke, she had no intention of using that particular spell. Couldn't really picture pretty, sophisticated Meenauh under its influence, either, and wasn't intent on changing that fact. Plus, this one had been working well for her so far.

Reducio

Dee casts Rictusempra - WDC 9
Wisdom: [d20: 17] + 12 = 29
Accuracy: [d20: 14] + 12 = 26
Evasion: [d20: 3] + 9 = 12
Duration: [d6: 3], 1 round
Damage: 50 + 10 × 7 = 120

Meenauh Status: 190/600, -2 Acc, -25 HP for 1 round
Dealla Status: 450/600

Round 4 End

"Rictusempra!" she repeated her previous cast, watching with satisfaction as this spell, too, struck true. She really was on a roll here, wasn't she. What else was there... right, Meenauh had just given her the perfect example.

Reducio

Round 5 Start

Dee casts Nec Divinos Crepitus - WDC 11
Wisdom: [d20: 2] + 12 = 14
Accuracy: [d20: 5] + 12 = 17
Evasion: [d20: 9] + 9 = 18
Miss
10% rebound chance: [d10: 7]
20% spread chance: [d10: 5]

Meenauh Status: 165/600, -2 Acc
Dealla Status: 450/600

"Nec Divinos Crepitus," was an incantation that was nearly a tongue twister even without being forced to sing along with it, but she managed fine. Her aim, however, suffered, or perhaps Meenauh was just finding her groove, and the small crackers exploded far from the Gryffindor. Apparently the cracker gods weren't well-disposed towards either of them today.

Meenauh seemed to be too out of breath to muster much of a response, which Dee supposed she couldn't blame her for. The incessant tickling from Rictusempra was far from pleasant, and Dee was mercilessly doubling down on her advantage. But somehow, despite the wind and the tickling and general chaos that Dee conjured, Meenauh managed to retain some dignity, and Dee grinned back at her fiercely... then turned right around to make things worse. It was better to not give a duellist like Meenauh the time to regain her balance.

She twisted out of the way of a sudden burst of water that splashed to the ground several steps past her, then decided to return fire. Well, not fire. The Gryffindor had tried to make her sing, so surely, she was feeling like dancing, right? Dancing in addition to the tickling would surely mean it'd be getting even harder to breathe, but all the better for Dee. No breathing meant no casting.

Reducio

Dee casts Tarantallegra - WDC 9
Wisdom: [d20: 20] + 12 = 32, crit
Accuracy: [d20: 17] + 12 = 29
Evasion: [d20: 17] + 9 = 26
Duration: 2 rounds due to crit
Damage: 50 + 5 × 7 + 50 = 135

Meenauh Status: 180/600, -1 Acc, -2 Eva for 2 rounds
Dealla Status: 450/600

Round 6 End

"Tarantallegra," she chanted, sending another spell flying towards Meenauh. It was an especially powerful one, one of those rare spells when everything hit just right, the incantation flowing with the movement, cadence of her voice and twist of her wand perfectly in sync. The kind that made Dee want to laugh out loud with the joy of it. She hadn't immediately fallen in love with duelling, not in the beginning, not like her connection with potions. But she'd gotten here anyway, and she wouldn't miss it anymore.

"As rarely as I can manage," she replied with a cheeky smile, and that was really the gist of it. Slim and on the shorter side, she knew she wasn't likely to remain standing for long when being hit by spells, so better to just... not get hit. "Although I am notoriously bad at dodging blindfolds." As her most recent duel had shown. Inexplicably, she'd been better at dodging spells when blindfolded than at dodging the blindfolds themselves. It had been a frustrating experience, all in all.

Things rarely went as well as this practice duel, but then, it had usually not been due to her opponents. It was her own magic she'd been fighting with the most, last year. This, this was how it was supposed to be, wasn't it?

It was probably almost time to call it day. This was practice, it shouldn't end up with either of them being carted to the hospital wing because they couldn't walk anymore. Still, maybe one more spell... going full circle?

Reducio

Round 7 Start

Dee casts Ventus - WDC 11
Wisdom: [d20: 9] + 12 = 21
Accuracy: [d20: 20] + 12 = 32
Evasion: [d20: 18] + 9 - 2 = 25
Duration: [d3: 2], 1 round
Damage: 50 + 10 × 7 = 120

Meenauh Status: 60/600, -1 Acc, -2 Eva for 2 rounds, -4 Eva for 1 round
Dealla Status: 450/600

"Ventus!" Another blast of wind swept between them, hitting Meenauh despite an admirable effort to get out of the way. Dee's spell had been perfectly on target, and yeah, she was feeling rather pleased with herself. She knew how good a duellist Meenauh was, and even half a year without practice would not have rendered her suddenly incapable. This was validation she'd sorely needed, although she wouldn't have admitted or even known it.

In hindsight, telling your opponent which spell gave you the most trouble probably wasn't the smartest idea. It wouldn't have been the first time Dee's big mouth and love for banter had gotten her into trouble, but thankfully, Meenauh was clearly at the end of her rope. The blindfold was well-aimed, anyway, more so considering the circumstances, and Dee probably wouldn't have been able to dodge it if she'd been contending with any of the spell effects she'd so readily thrown at the Gryffindor. As it was, she just barely managed to duck beneath the cloth that was coming for her, then remained standing some distance away from the Gryffindor, watching.

The duel was clearly over, but she didn't feel like it; adrenaline coursing through her veins with every accelerated beat of her heart, her muscles tensed to spring into action at a moment's notice. Poised, graceful, lethal. Breathing deeply, there was a smile on her face that was unintentional and unperceived by herself.

She only snapped out of it when Meenauh chucked a piece of chocolate her way and she had to scramble to catch it before it fell, then she blinked, her grin spreading, and skipped over to settle down next to Meenauh, legs crossed and eyes shining, wand still in hand. It felt warm between her fingers, as excited about the practice duel as she herself was. "Thanks," she chirped and sank her teeth into the chocolate, a slight flush crossing her cheeks at being called dear, gone as quickly as it came. "Got plenty practice dodging those," she added on as she chewed on the sweet. "And it was a close call, anyway. I hate blindfolds. Should learn how to duel with them, I know some people can, but it just throws me off."

The energy wasn't leaving, she was almost glowing with it, would be coasting on the high for the next few days at least, riding it into her next official duel and perhaps beyond. A year ago, Meenauh had been marked down in her mind as one of the duellists to measure up against, the ones that were setting the bar for everyone else. Her respect had been earned without Meenauh even knowing, and the resounding victory did not lessen it; it only served as a mark of Dealla's own competence. The satisfying, bone-deep knowledge that this was what she'd been training for, and of course, it was working out as she'd wanted. Because in the end, things always worked out as Dee wanted, didn't they?